


like the earth and sky

by aizensosuke



Series: ByaRen Week 2018 [5]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Established Relationship, Family Feels, Humor, Light Angst, M/M, Marriage, Mutual Pining, Trans Character, Trans Kuchiki Byakuya, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 12:40:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16619156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aizensosuke/pseuds/aizensosuke
Summary: byakuya and renji miss each other when renji goes on a mission.





	like the earth and sky

Truly, it is amazing how quickly Byakuya forgets how strenuous and demanding the position of lieutenant can be the moment he happens to be married to one.

Touma is asleep but Niko is wide awake, perched in Byakuya’s arms as she stares out the window beside the bed, watching the leaves of the trees wrapped around the house fall as the wind tears their fragile stems from the bark. When Renji was volunteered to go on a mission for their Captain Commander, Byakuya had to let him go; having a family does not excuse Renji from his work and his missions, as he had reminded the recruits on their first day.

“You’re overly worried, you know.” Yoruichi comes out of precisely nowhere, collapsing on the width of his bed with a broad smile on her lips, luxuriating in it as only a cat can. “Abarai will come home just fine like he always does. You should know that, Byakuya-bo.”

The sight of her favorite honorary aunt has Niko squealing in excitement, stretching around Byakuya to make grabby hands for the woman as her bright grey eyes light up. Yoruichi grins mischievously and bounds off of the bed to take Niko from Byakuya’s arms, spinning her around in a few circles before collapsing on the bed with her once more, holding her stretched up in the air. Fondly,  Byakuya shakes his head and spares one last glance for the window before he turns to the cradle; Niko’s squeal has awoken her brother, who stretches his arms and yawns.

_ It’s the middle of the night, _ Byakuya thinks, slightly annoyed as he picks up his son before the child can cry out for him.  _ I really shouldn’t be entertaining guests this late when the children should be asleep, but it looks like we’re all awake now. _

“Come sit.” Yoruichi pats the bed, shifting to sit up, Niko cradled in one arm.

Byakuya raises an eyebrow at her. “You do realize this is my bed, do you not?”

“Of course, Byakuya-bo.” Yoruichi grins up at him, showing a hint of white teeth and a smaller hint of a pointed canine. “Bring my nephew to me so I can see him.”

“You should bring Ururu with you the next time you come. The children are very taken with her.” Byakuya pulls himself up onto the bed and hands Touma over, who makes an excited little noise when he finally realizes that Yoruichi is in the room with them.

Yoruichi hums thoughtfully and nods, combing her fingers through Touma’s hair. “I suppose I should. And they’re smart to like her, she’s a doll. Kisuke’s doing a good thing, giving those kids someone to take care of them when they don’t really have anyone else to do it.”

Byakuya had never asked about the two children who lived with Urahara Kisuke at his shop, knowing all too well that such a thing is none of his business. When Yoruichi had finally returned from parts unknown to see him, she had taken up being a surrogate mother for the children who had no parents at all. Byakuya can tell just how much she adores them from the way she talks about them and the way she cares for them when they’re near her. Urahara is a lucky man to have someone so determined to make sure their little family comes together.

“You’re worried about your beau,” Yoruichi tells him, and Byakuya rolls his eyes because no he is  _ not _ worried about Renji. He has no reason to be. “You miss him. He hasn’t been gone a single day since the children were born. And you don’t want them to grow up without a father.”

“You know as well as I do that Renji is too stubborn to die.” He would have died beneath the influence of Senbonzakura if he were a weaker man, that much Byakuya knows.

Yoruichi sighs at him, wagging a finger at him that Niko tries to make a grab for; Yoruichi lets her, laughing when Niko makes a triumphant noise. “You and I both know that for as true as that is, it doesn’t make you worry any less. You miss him in a way you never had to miss him before when he was nothing more than a thorn in your side.”

“Like you,” Byakuya muses, and she only beams at him, unaffected by his words. “Is it so wrong to be concerned? If it was just me, I could have taken the loss and gone on with my life. We don’t know the state of the Arrancar right now and the fact that Kyoraku was fine with sending off the other lieutenants but not his own only makes me wonder if he knew something was out there that the rest of us still aren’t quite sure about.”

“Oh, now that’s an interesting point to make.” Yoruichi hums, tickling under Touma’s chin.

Byakuya should know better than to say such things aloud, but Kyoraku… His husband is still here in the Seireitei, and his niece is at his side, so he has so little to worry for. The idea of Niko and Touma growing up without Renji to raise and nurture them has not escaped Byakuya as a valid concern, something that may very well happen one day. He himself could meet a similar fate; the captains were faced with the most dangerous tasks and missions, after all. And none of it had ever mattered before now, because Rukia could have taken care of herself. Their children cannot do such a thing, not at their young age.

Yoruichi must sense the run of his thoughts because she leans forward, setting his children back in his arms before she rests her hands on his shoulders. “Renji will be fine. He is not out there alone, and the others are just as capable as he is. He’s going to come home to you like he always does, and you can chastise him for taking too long.”

“Just the same.” Byakuya looks down at his children, who peer up at him with bright and aware eyes. “You two should be asleep, you know. It’s late. This is not acceptable.”

“Always strict, even as a father,” Yoruichi muses, throwing herself back on the pillows. “Lay them down in the cradle and I’ll sing them a lullaby before I go. It’s the least I can do for you.”

_ Since you woke them up? _ Byakuya thinks, but does not say aloud.

He does as Yoruichi says instead, hushing Niko when she fusses up at him, tucking them both in and sitting on the edge of the bed while Yoruichi begins to sing. The lullaby is a familiar one and before Byakuya can react to it properly, Yoruichi is draped against his back, pulling him back onto the bed; he goes into the warmth of her touch thankfully, the familiarity of her comfort. Her words of comfort and solace were the same she sang to him when he was younger, when his parents died, when Hisana died. Yoruichi has always been there for him.

When she finishes the song, the children are asleep, and she rests her chin on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him from behind. “He will come back to you as he always has,” she tells him, and he only nods, resting his hand over where hers are clasped across his chest. “Probably with a few more dead Arrancar to boast about. But he will come back to you.”

Byakuya wants to tell her that he  _ knows, _ that Renji would never dare think of leaving him here alone with their children but it is so hard to think that, to sound convincing when he can’t quite shake the fear that it will not happen. “Thank you, Yoruichi. I needed to hear that.”

“I know you did. It’s not easy when you’ve got a lover who’s prone to walking headfirst into dangerous situations without ever thinking twice about it.” Yoruichi purrs against his cheek and Byakuya closes his eyes, focusing on the sound, the rhythm of her voice. “But he would not leave you to raise your children alone. Of that, I am entirely sure.”

“I will have to trust your words until he returns home,” Byakuya says, startled when noise from downstairs echoes throughout the entirety of the house. “Well, I suppose he must be here.”

Yoruichi laughs against his ear and flash steps off of the bed, opening the bedroom door for him. “Why don’t you go downstairs and see what the commotion is about? I’ll watch over the babies for you until you two come upstairs and can watch over them for yourselves.”

Byakuya nods in thanks and walks past her and down the hallway, trying to keep his footsteps equal and measured as he makes his way to the entrance hall. If he was a child, he would run. He would throw his arms around Renji’s neck and berate him for taking so long.

But he is a captain, so he walks, balling his fists up in his clothing in frustration.

* * *

 

“I’m not fucking going to see the Captain Commander this late in the night!” Renji smacks at the Hell Butterfly floating near his head, ignoring the way his subordinates eye him as he walks up to the house he shares with his husband. “If he’s that worried about what was there, he can get his ass up out of bed and come to see me. I went to the fucking desert for him.”

Mao clears her voice behind him worriedly. “Can you speak to Ise fukutaicho like that?”

As if he gives a damn right now. Kyoraku had sent him and several other lieutenants out into Hueco Mundo to figure out what was causing the rising reiatsu out there, but not his own niece because he understands the value of family. Right? Then he should understand that Renji is not about to trek halfway across the Seireitei to report to him when he can do that in the morning. He doubts the man would believe what he has to tell him whether or not he was expecting it, anyway, and Renji has been gone for a week now. He wants to rest.

When Hisagi and Kira drug their feet about going home to their divisions, Renji almost led them there by the scruffs of their neck to make a point. Rangiku did not need to be convinced, having no desire to drag herself to Kyoraku when her hair was still riddled with sand from the last battle they had gone through before they finally decided to come home.

Bothering Arrancar just trying to nest and bear young did not go well for them, as it turned out.

Sue Renji for not knowing. He had no idea they could even conceive children because he was pretty sure their humanity was in appearance only and had nothing to do with anything else. By the time they figured out their grand mistake, the Tres Bestias were dragging them in front of Tia Halibel so she could demand to know what the hell they were doing in her lands.

_ None _ of them knew she had taken over being Queen of Hueco Mundo in the absence of Aizen’s rule, but they knew now. They had always been given only slaps on the wrists so they could leave without having the majority of Arrancar try to hunt them down and kill them for what they did. Renji could hardly blame them; even his own stuttered explanation that they had been sent here, not coming of their own free will, sounded weak to his ears.

The sound of measured footsteps remind Renji that he came home for a purpose and he shrugs out of his hakama, wincing at how dirty it is. As if the desert could ever be a clean place. “Taichou!” he calls out just as Byakuya steps into the light. “Taichou, I’ve returned home.”

Unlike him, Byakuya looks as put-together as always and had even donned his haori in the event that Renji brought any of his subordinates with him. Not that he  _ wanted _ to do that, but they just sort of followed him around like ducklings following their mother.

“Abarai fukutaicho.” Byakuya wrinkles his nose as he looks him up and down, one delicate hand rising to cover his nose. “You look atrocious and you smell worse. What happened?”

Renji wishes he absolutely did  _ not _ have to go through this story, but it doesn’t seem like he actively has much of a choice if Byakuya is asking him. Just the same, he seizes the Hell Butterfly out of the air and throws it outside, slamming the door shut on it before he turns to address his captain once more. He can see the humor dancing in Byakuya’s eyes.

“As it turns out, Taicho, Arrancar spend the autumn nesting and breeding with one another and we just learned that fact when we went and interrupted them in the process.” He still has emotional whiplash from how fast Grimmjow shifted into  _ Pantera,  _ claws only seconds away from ripping Renji’s face open. Which he probably deserves. “So when they attacked us, we fought back, and we’re lucky we didn’t do much lasting damage because Queen Halibel probably would have had us all chained up and turned into food for her Bestias for doing it.”

Byakuya stares at him over his hand for what feels like a long and breathless moment and Renji wants to  _ die _ because he knows how untrue it sounds, but what is he supposed to do about it? “Well,” his captain and husband finally says, “that is certainly something to have learned. But that doesn’t quite explain why you smell like death just the same.”

Renji winces. “Well, Halibel gave us a slap on the wrist and sent us on our way. That slap on the wrist was just more or less… Aiding in a few difficult births. Kira’s especially good at it.”

“Ah, that explains the smell, then.” Byakuya drops his hand from his face, his eyes darting behind Renji to where the members of Squad Six he had taken with him are still standing. “You may all go home for the evening. If the Captain Commander bothers you, feel free to tell him to only speak to me. That I will answer all of his questions in the morning.”

The others file out and Mao hesitates in the doorway, cupping her gore-streaked hand next to her mouth. “Don’t tell anyone, Taicho,” she mock whispers, “but even Arrancar babies are cute.”

Once the door closes, Byakuya flash steps in front of him and Renji is only mildly expecting it with as exhausted as he is. Gore or not, Byakuya’s arms encircle his shoulders and draw him in close, and Renji sighs as he rests his head against Byakuya’s soft, dark hair. His own arms slide around Byakuya’s waist, fingers pressing into the curve of his waist he knows so well as he draws him closer. He’d missed this. He missed his husband, his children, their home.

“It sounds like you had quite the adventure,” he murmurs, and Renji scoffs because, yeah, he absolutely did. “Welcome home, Renji. I missed you. So did Touma and Niko.”

Renji’s heart warms at Byakuya’s words, at the mention of their children. “I’m glad to be home. But I should probably wash all this off before I go up to see the kids.”

“The smell alone would probably distress them,” Byakuya admits, leaning back to press his forehead against Renji’s. His eyes are burning and Renji remembered never understanding how such a neutral color could feel warm at all. “We can use the bathroom down here so as not to wake them. Yoruichi is watching over them until we return.”

“Of course she is. Are you joining me, then, Byakuya?” With the rest of their division gone, Renji can use Byakuya’s name as freely as he wants, as he’s always wanted.

Byakuya leans back and holds his hands up, the pale skin now wet with blood and other fluids. “It would appear as though I have no choice. How many births did you attend, Renji?”

“Enough for a lifetime.” But if Halibel’s final threat is to be believed, he might be there next year to continue making up for his monumental mistake. “Let’s get cleaned up, then. I miss the kids.”

The bathroom downstairs is primarily for use by the servants but the room is empty now, the water already drawn, steam curling lazily in the air and Renji thinks there is something to be said about the fact that the Kuchiki servants are always prepared to do what is necessary for the benefit of the noble they serve. He shrugs out of his clothes, wincing at how heavy they feel now, the sand gritty and the blood itching where it dries and flakes off of his skin. He is  _ never _ going back to Hueco Mundo unless he absolutely has no choice.

Maybe there are worse things in life than Arrancar threatening him with death if he does not deliver their children safely—  _ children, _ always plural— but he doesn’t really think so.

Byakuya laughs at the expression of disgust on his face, shrugging out of his own clothing as he goes, leaving a trail to the tub. He stands on the edge of it, gloriously naked and inhumanly beautiful, for just a moment before stepping inside and sinking into the water. Renji scrambles to join him, almost splashing him in the process, but all he wants to do is wrap his arms around Byakuya and hold him tight now that he’s home once more.

“Welcome home,” Byakuya murmurs to him once more, his voice low and intimate in this room, sending a shiver of want down Renji’s spine. “Try not to be gone so long next time. I have to admit I was growing lonely without your presence nearby.”

Renji nods, takes his husband’s face in his hands. “You got it, Taicho. I’ll take it as an order.”

And then, finally, he kisses Byakuya to welcome himself home.


End file.
